1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vibrator devices with accompanying audio capabilities, particularly to vibrators for sexual stimulation which also include audio features, and specifically to such a stimulation device in which the vibration function is specially correlated to the audio function.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to have a phallic-shaped device, sometimes called a “dildo,” for use in sexual activity. Such devices frequently are shaped, and sometimes sized, generally to resemble a human penis, the degrees of realism in size and appearance varying considerably in the art. These devices ordinarily are fabricated from, or covered with, a variety of material compositions to permit their pleasant contact with a user's skin and sensitive body parts. It also is known to dispose internally within such devices a motorized vibrator, to impart a controllable vibrating movement to the device. The device's vibration allows it to be used to massage body parts (sexual and non-sexual) to enhance the erotic experience and boost sexual stimulation.
Most sex-toy type vibrators have simple on-off switches, and/or a simple motor speed control such as a single switch which cycles through several different speeds, for manually controlling the speed of the vibrator motor. Existing vibrator devices generally have only a limited manual motor speed control by means of the user's pushing or turning of buttons, and feature no audio playback at all.
Some vibrators are known which respond (change vibrator motor speed) directly to the intensity of a musical audio input. In such devices, the volume and beat of the music determines the strength of the vibrations; the motor response is a function solely of the intensity of the source audio signal. One commercially available vibrator device having audio functions is offered on the Internet at www.ohmibod.com. In devices of this general type, a separate music player is connected into the product (or the product may have a microphone). The music player has a costly and powerful microprocessor of some type, yet the device also must use a relatively complex and costly circuitry (probably also including a second microprocessor) to analyze the incoming sound. Therefore there are two microprocessors of some kind, and circuitry to process/analyze the fundamental characteristics of the waveform of the incoming audio signal.
Certain other devices are known which have both audio listening and vibrator functions for purposes of enhancing sexual enjoyment. Such devices are typified by the disclosures of U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,170 to Garrigan; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0162595 by Serbanescu; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0097852 by Boyd et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0084837 by Klearman et al.; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0055096 by Berry et al. The entire disclosures of these foregoing patent and patent publications serve as broad background to the present disclosure, and the entireties thereof are incorporated herein by reference.
Thus, in many devices that have audio playback capability, the audio output heard by the user is independent of the vibrator motor speed. In certain other known devices, the motor speed is responsive only to the physics (usually signal strength or frequency) of the audio source. Thus, the motor speed control cannot be coordinated with an audio track (such as a story) in an arbitrary manner; rather it is merely responsive to general characteristics of the objective audio waveform. Ordinarily, when the audio source becomes loud, the motor speed increases. This is always how the device responds; when the audio is loud, the motor speed is high—there is no provision for other modes of control such that the motor speed may be, for example, fast during one loud portion of the audio, and slow during another equally loud portion.
There is a need in the art for a vibrator apparatus in which the vibrator motor speed is arbitrarily coordinated with the content (such as the subjective meanings in a spoken narrative) of the audio playback.
Against the foregoing background, the current invention was developed.